The files that damn Roman Polanski: Court account of what he REALLY did to 13yr old

[Wiseguy]

The files that damn Roman Polanski: Court account of what director REALLY did to a girl, 13





Wanted: Roman Polanski and his victim, Samantha Geimer, at age 13

There's nothing that a group of campaigning luvvies likes more than an issue to which they can add the full weight of their self-importance.

Usually it's something suitably worthy like the environment, or political prisoners.

But the latest cause celebre has a rather more glamorous and controversial edge to it.
Ever since the arrest of Roman Polanski in Switzerland last autumn, his showbusiness friends have been working overtime to prevent his extradition to the United States.

So powerful has this movement become that the French President has become involved.

In an astonishing - some would say disgraceful - act of backroom diplomacy, Nicolas Sarkozy hand-delivered a letter from Polanski to Barack Obama during the recent summit in Washington.
In it, the Polish-born director is said to have claimed that the two months he spent in a Swiss jail, before being detained - as he is now - under house arrest in his own luxury chalet in Gstaad, was sufficient punishment for fleeing American justice after pleading guilty to the statutory rape of a 13-year-old girl in California 33 years ago.
This extraordinary attempt to influence the authorities follows a high-profile campaign by the 76-year-old director's many showbusiness friends.

Polanski's 44-year-old wife, actress Emmanuelle Seigner, has marshalled all her associates to his defence, while more than 100 stars have signed a petition for his release, including directors Martin Scorsese and Woody Allen (who, coincidentally, has granted a part in his new film to President Sarkozy's wife, Carla Bruni).
Author Robert Harris, who worked on the script of Polanski's latest film Ghost, based on Harris's own novel, says it serves no one's interest for the case to drag on.

Even the sister of Polanski's late wife Sharon Tate claims the sex he had with teenager Samantha Geimer was consensual, but that he would never get a fair trial in the United States.
This week, the campaign was rather dented by accusations from actress Charlotte Lewis, who claimed Polanski had 'sexually abused' her in 1983 when she was only 16 after plying her with Moet & Chandon champagne.

Lewis, who is now helping Los Angeles prosecutors, alleges he told her: 'I must sleep with every actress that I work with.'


Underage: The probation report reveals Polanski carried out not just one, but a succession of sexual assaults against Samantha

No doubt Polanski's supporters will dismiss Lewis's story as irrelevant, but together with the case of Samantha Geimer, many will feel these latest accusations suggest a disturbing pattern of behaviour involving drink, teenage girls and sex.
Would Polanski's cheerleaders be quite so vocal in his defence if they knew exactly what happened that afternoon in 1977 with 13-year-old Samantha?
The Mail has obtained Polanski's probation officer's report - an extraordinarily revealing document which records in grim and forensic detail how the then 43-year-old went about seducing a girl 30 years his junior with the aid of a good deal of alcohol and a drug that would have rendered her almost incapable of resisting.
If the facts are shocking today, they were even more so at the time - as I remember all too well.

Back in February 1978, I was standing in the queue of a boutique in the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Los Angeles when a defiant Polanski turned to show me what he'd just bought - a pair of enormous dark glasses. It was the director's last-minute disguise before departing for the airport to skip bail.

There, he bought the only remaining first-class ticket on a British Airways flight to London.
As everyone now knows, he was fleeing what he feared would be tough justice at the hands of his implacable adversary, 72-year-old Judge Laurence Rittenbrand, who was due to sentence him that afternoon.


Today: Samantha Geimer has waived her right to anonymity

The 28-page probation report was prepared for this sentencing - court case A334139, 'The people of the state of California vs Roman Raymond Polanski' - and was put together during the six weeks that the director was in Chino jail for psychiatric assessment.

It reveals that far from the crime being an impromptu lapse, as his supporters argue, Polanski carried out not just one, but a succession of sexual assaults against Samantha - and that he knew exactly what he was doing throughout.
Until now the events of that day have only been summarised, but when the evidence is read in full, it explains why the Californian authorities are so determined to have him back.
The year before Polanski allegedly attacked his teenage victim, he photographed 15-year-old actress Nastassja Kinski for French Vogue.

The pictures were such a success that he was soon casting around for new young girls to photograph. One of these was 13-year-old Samantha Geimer.
As the court report reveals, she was recommended to him by a French actor friend who had introduced Polanksi to Samantha's mother, herself only 30, at a well-known Hollywood bar.
Polanski duly visited the family home and showed them the pictures he had taken of the beautiful Kinski. Crucially, this was the point at which Samantha's mother emphasised to Polanski exactly how old her daughter was. In other words, he knew from the outset that his model was underage.
In the first session, Polanski took pictures of her topless, but it was soon after, on March 10, 1977, that he is alleged to have attacked Samantha.
On that day, the report states, 'the defendant returned to the victim's home to pick her up for a second modelling session. The mother remained at home, the victim going with the defendant to a Benedict Canyon residence. There were several people at the residence as the defendant took pictures of the victim until the light began to dim'.
Polanski then took his young model to the remote house of Jack Nicholson - the star of his 1974 movie Chinatown.
The report goes into disturbing detail about Polanski's predatory behaviour that afternoon.

First, he plied the girl with champagne and Quaaludes, a tranquilliser fashionable at the time as a recreational drug. It loosens the inhibitions, makes you drowsy and should not be taken with alcohol.





Backing: Directors Martin Scorsese (left) and Woody Allen support Polanski

The report states that at the Nicholson residence they were met by a neighbour, Helena Kalliniaotes, who served as a caretaker for several homes on the Mulholland Drive compound.
'With the permission of Mrs Kalliniaotes, defendant then opened a bottle of champagne which he, the victim and Mrs Kalliniaotes shared.

Mrs Kalliniaotes left the home shortly after, when defendant began taking pictures of the victim. Again pictures with and without top were taken.'
Then, according to the victim, she and Polanski entered the bathroom. At this point, Samantha takes up the story in her own words.
'He walked in before me,' she said. 'When I walked in, he had a container. And he had a pill broken in three parts. And he said: "Is this a Quaalude? Do you think I will be able to drive if I take it?"
'He goes "Well, I guess I will," and he took it.
'And he says: "Do you want part?" And I went "No"... oh, at that time I said "OK" because I didn't know.'
Meanwhile, Samantha said, she carried on drinking champagne. 'I don't know how much because I was drinking some of his, too. I just kept drinking it for the pictures.'
Crucially, there were signs at this point that Samantha was getting nervous, yet Polanski ignored them. 'Subsequently the victim entered the Jacuzzi, where defendant took nude pictures of her,' the report continues.
'Apparently apprehensive at this time, the victim indicated to the defendant that she wished to get out of the Jacuzzi as she had asthma. Subsequently, victim indicated to the defendant that she wished to return home to take her asthma medicine.'
Any decent man - not that a decent man would have been in that position in the first place - would have realised that his child model had had enough. But what did Polanski do? 'He told me to go into the other room and lie down,' recalled Samantha.
The report continues: 'Defendant entered the bedroom where the victim was resting and began to kiss her.'



Holed up: The Swiss chalet where Polanksi (below) remains on house arrest




It then states that he performed oral sex - this on a girl who was so intoxicated she did not know what she was doing.
'Victim testified: "I can scarcely remember anything that happened. I was kind of dizzy..." '
Polanski then proceeded to have full sex with her.
'Defendant then accomplished an act of sexual intercourse with the victim. He questioned her as to whether she was using birth control pills and additionally questioned her as to the time of her last menstrual period,' says the report.
Samantha recalled in her witness statement that it was not long before he stopped, or so it seemed in her dazed state. But then he launched another even more vile sexual assault.

Not even the arrival of Anjelica Huston, Jack Nicholson's girlfriend at the time, put a stop to the assaults. The report recalls how Huston wasn't happy to find that Polanski was in the house without her permission, so she tried to speak to him.
She 'entered the residence, knocking on the bedroom door, stating: "Roman, are you in there?"
'The defendant went to the door, talked briefly with Miss Huston, then returned to the victim and again attempted an act of intercourse.'
Later, the report continues, 'the two [Polanski and Samantha] exited the bedroom, talked with Miss Huston for a while, then returned to the victim's home, the victim indicating only to her mother: 'If he says anything about asthma, I told him I had asthma.'

Tragedy: Polanski with his former wife Sharon Tate, who was murdered

Those words would seem to raise the suspicion that she'd made up the asthma attack in an attempt to get away from Polanski earlier in the day.
Anjelica Huston has since said that she believed Samantha looked a lot older than 13 so had no idea she was underage.
That night, Samantha poured out her story to her 17-year-old boyfriend who had come over to see her.
Her mother overheard their conversation and called the police. Polanski had no defence. The girl was taken to a local hospital, where a medical examination established without doubt that sex had taken place.
'After a search warrant was obtained,' the report says, 'the defendant was arrested in the lobby of the Beverly Wilshire Hotel on March 11,
'Film confiscated, the officers finding prescribed Quaaludes of 150 milligrams strength in defendant's room.'

Polanski said the pills were prescribed for jetlag. However he also had stronger ones in his possession.
'En route to the bedroom,' the police noted, 'defendant was apparently attempting to dispose of a 300 milligram Quaalude tablet, which was then recovered by the arresting officer. It is to be noted that the portion of the Quaalude that the victim [Samantha] took at the Nicholson residence was also 300 milligram strength.'
Polanski faced grave charges which could have led to a 50-year jail sentence, but by mid-March he was free on £1,500 bail and a trial was set for August 8.
Even then, the director continued partying with scantily-clad models in London and St Tropez. It was a long way from the behaviour of a man who told his probation officer how dreadfully sorry he was for what he'd done:
'The defendant expressed great remorse regarding any possible effect the present offence might have had upon the victim.

He expressed great pity and compassion for her ... stated that because of the many tragedies that he himself has known in his own life [Polanski's family was persecuted by the Nazis], he feels great empathy for a young person in distress.'
Polanski returned to LA just before the trial and struck a deal with the court to drop some charges in return for pleading guilty to one count of unlawful intercourse with a minor.
As the report shows, the film business rallied round him.
Dick Sylbert, the art director on Chinatown, called him 'a generous loyal friend and a very sensitive human being'.

And his friend Gene Gutowski (he went on to produce Polanski's 2002 Oscar-winning film The Pianist) said: 'There is very little dark or sinister about Roman.

'He has remained amazingly normal and welladjusted, generous to a fault. As a result, he has been targeted by young and ambitious females.'
With such controversy raging, it might have been wise for Polanski to keep a low profile - but no.
First, he got into a fight with an LA photographer who took a picture of him kneeling at his murdered wife Sharon's grave. Then he was pictured drinking with a beautiful girl at a beer festival. And when he went out to dinner in Hollywood, his friends were apt to get to their feet and applaud him.
By now Judge Rittenbrand had had enough. He sent Polanski to Chino jail for three months to undergo the psychiatric tests which form part of the probation officer's report.
Incredibly, the psychiatrist, Alvin E. Davis, decided that the film director was not a sexual deviant, not a paedophile, and that the 'offence occurred as an isolated instance of transient poor judgment and loss of normal inhibitions in circumstances of intimacy and collaboration in creative work, with some coincidental alcohol and drug intoxication'.
The conclusion was that prison would destroy him, and he should instead pay a substantial fine.
Rittenbrand did not agree. The judge, who died in 1993, called the report a whitewash and told Polanski's lawyer that he planned to jail the director for another six weeks - or longer, if he did not agree to voluntary deportation.
Polanski spent one last night partying at Jack Nicholson's house with a coterie of starry friends and then fled, ignoring the outraged judge.
Since then, a furore has raged over whether he should face justice. Year after year, his LA friends have tried to mediate between him and successive district attorneys. But the authorities refuse to bow to star pressure.
Polanski has never dared to go back to California and face a court. Now, as he languishes under house arrest in Switzerland while U.S. authorities press for extradition, he must be reflecting that the time has come when he may have to. When you read such harrowing details of this vile crime in black and white, it is easy to see why.

Read more: The files that damn Roman Polanski: Court account of what director really did to a girl of 13

[maxeythecat]

I've got one question............if the girl's mother was so bloody concerned about her daughter, why would she let her go off with Polanski alone? I mean come ON! Let's get real here...no responsible parent in their right mind would allow their 13 year old child to go to a photo shoot screen test or anything along those lines without go along with them?? I'm not making any apologies in regards to Polanski's actions but in all honesty, I really think that the mom should be held accountable for pimping out her kid in the first place, especially after the first photo session had her daughter topless!! WTF??? That woman should be under arrest just as much as Polanski is, cos to my sensibilities this entire incident smells of deliberate entrapment to me....she knew what was possibly gonna happen and she let her child walk into the lion's den like a sheep led to the dinner table. Again, I don't condone whatsoever Polanski's actions, but in all honesty I think the mother is just as much at fault in this matter....I also think that the courts are going out of their way to blow this up waaay out of proportion for the sake of the publicity. I know I'm gonna get bitch-slapped for this, but I agree with the victim herself......let it go.Enforce the original sentence that was given and let this poor kid have her privacy back cos no matter how much the courts, the press and Polanski himself wanna slice it and bleed this story dry, ultimately it's about this girl and what's best for her. Nobody really seems to give a shit about what all this is doing to her, and I find this the saddest part of this entire situation.

[buttmunch]

So you're saying you think the mother is somewhat at fault? I wasn't completely clear.

[Sundance]

Neither am I. Not quite sure how you can blow the rape of a 13 year old child waaay out of proportion.

[witchcurlgirl]

.Enforce the original sentence that was given and let this poor kid have her privacy back cos no matter how much the courts, the press and Polanski himself wanna slice it and bleed this story dry, ultimately it's about this girl and what's best for her. Nobody really seems to give a shit about what all this is doing to her, and I find this the saddest part of this entire situation.

There was no original sentence. He fled before final sentencing.

[WhateverLolaWants]

Hmm, I had read all of this before, I'm fairly sure.

[Trixie]

I've got one question............if the girl's mother was so bloody concerned about her daughter, why would she let her go off with Polanski alone? I mean come ON! Let's get real here...no responsible parent in their right mind would allow their 13 year old child to go to a photo shoot screen test or anything along those lines without go along with them?? I'm not making any apologies in regards to Polanski's actions but in all honesty, I really think that the mom should be held accountable for pimping out her kid in the first place, especially after the first photo session had her daughter topless!! WTF??? That woman should be under arrest just as much as Polanski is, cos to my sensibilities this entire incident smells of deliberate entrapment to me....she knew what was possibly gonna happen and she let her child walk into the lion's den like a sheep led to the dinner table. Again, I don't condone whatsoever Polanski's actions, but in all honesty I think the mother is just as much at fault in this matter....I also think that the courts are going out of their way to blow this up waaay out of proportion for the sake of the publicity. I know I'm gonna get bitch-slapped for this, but I agree with the victim herself......let it go.Enforce the original sentence that was given and let this poor kid have her privacy back cos no matter how much the courts, the press and Polanski himself wanna slice it and bleed this story dry, ultimately it's about this girl and what's best for her. Nobody really seems to give a shit about what all this is doing to her, and I find this the saddest part of this entire situation.

Just curious, have you ever read the court documents? Because this case was definitely NOT blown out of proportion--if anything, it's been whitewashed over the years by Polanski and his supporters.

As far as enforcing the original sentence, that's all the U.S. courts tried to do. However, Polanski fled before sentence could be imposed.

And while I agree the mother may have shown bad judgment, was it really reasonable for her to assume this 40-something famous film director was going to drug and sodomize her 13-year old daughter?

[sluce]

It was also a very different time back then. Kids hitch hiked and we all believed it was a less dangerous world.

[maxeythecat]

Just curious, have you ever read the court documents? Because this case was definitely NOT blown out of proportion--if anything, it's been whitewashed over the years by Polanski and his supporters.

As far as enforcing the original sentence, that's all the U.S. courts tried to do. However, Polanski fled before sentence could be imposed.

And while I agree the mother may have shown bad judgment, was it really reasonable for her to assume this 40-something famous film director was going to drug and sodomize her 13-year old daughter?

Bad judgement??? Let me ask you point blank...would you let YOUR 13 year old child go off alone with a person that you've only met once or twice for a photo shoot??? HELL NO!! Even if said person was the most trustworthy person on the face of the Earth and had the blood of God flowed thru his veins I would'nt allow my kid to go ANYPLACE without my supervision! Here's the original 1977 report issued by the probation department in regards to the Polanski case...read it and then form your own opinion. As said, I'm not by any means condoning or defending what Polanski did, but I DO believe that there were indeed some sneaky goings on involving the original judge and what seemed to be a breach of faith on his part:

Polanski Seeks Sex Case Dismissal - December 3, 2008

[witchcurlgirl]

Rape apologist.

He drugged a 13 year old, and then vaginally and anally raped her. There is no excuse on earth that explains that away.

[sluce]

Maxey - the bottom line is that it doesn't matter what the mother allowed or not. Polanski still broke the law by drugging and raping a 13 yo girl. That you choose to look for other issues is disrespectful of rape victims.

[lorenath]

aggh, I had to stop reading. It's disgusting and disturbing.
I hope Mr. Polanski pays for it. I don't care if the mother acted right or not, her kid got raped by a 40 year old asshole. The problem is the pedo not the mom's parenting skills. Word

[buttmunch]

Hmm, I had read all of this before, I'm fairly sure.

Yeah, this has all been released quite a long time ago. I think you can go to smokinggun and read it all.

Just curious, have you ever read the court documents? Because this case was definitely NOT blown out of proportion--if anything, it's been whitewashed over the years by Polanski and his supporters.

As far as enforcing the original sentence, that's all the U.S. courts tried to do. However, Polanski fled before sentence could be imposed.

And while I agree the mother may have shown bad judgment, was it really reasonable for her to assume this 40-something famous film director was going to drug and sodomize her 13-year old daughter?

Agree. Particularly back when this happened. People weren't so hyper vigilant back then. Plus, what does it matter? He still raped her, not the mother.

It was also a very different time back then. Kids hitch hiked and we all believed it was a less dangerous world.

Exactly. Remember back then? Parents expected their kids home when the street lights came on and only had a vague idea where they were during all those hours when they were prowling the neighbourhood.

Bad judgement??? Let me ask you point blank...would you let YOUR 13 year old child go off alone with a person that you've only met once or twice for a photo shoot??? HELL NO!! Even if said person was the most trustworthy person on the face of the Earth and had the blood of God flowed thru his veins I would'nt allow my kid to go ANYPLACE without my supervision! Here's the original 1977 report issued by the probation department in regards to the Polanski case...read it and then form your own opinion. As said, I'm not by any means condoning or defending what Polanski did, but I DO believe that there were indeed some sneaky goings on involving the original judge and what seemed to be a breach of faith on his part:

Polanski Seeks Sex Case Dismissal - December 3, 2008

Sorry, but put it into the context of the times. Even if the mother showed less than stellar judgement it doesn't negate the fact that he plied a 13 year old girl with booze and ludes and then fucked her in the ass. Give me a break. You're trying to shift blame away from where it belongs: on Polanski.

[Trixie]

It was also a very different time back then. Kids hitch hiked and we all believed it was a less dangerous world.

Exactly. When I think back to all the things I did as a teenager UNSUPERVISED, it amazes me now. Things were indeed very different. No helicopter parents in my crowd.

Bad judgement??? Let me ask you point blank...would you let YOUR 13 year old child go off alone with a person that you've only met once or twice for a photo shoot??? HELL NO!! Even if said person was the most trustworthy person on the face of the Earth and had the blood of God flowed thru his veins I would'nt allow my kid to go ANYPLACE without my supervision! Here's the original 1977 report issued by the probation department in regards to the Polanski case...read it and then form your own opinion. As said, I'm not by any means condoning or defending what Polanski did, but I DO believe that there were indeed some sneaky goings on involving the original judge and what seemed to be a breach of faith on his part:

Polanski Seeks Sex Case Dismissal - December 3, 2008

I've read all the documents, thanks. Including the girl's testimony. What the mother did (or didn't do) doesn't change the facts of this CRIME.

[philbert_wormly]

Sorry, but put it into the context of the times. Even if the mother showed less than stellar judgement it doesn't negate the fact that he plied a 13 year old girl with booze and ludes and then fucked her in the ass. Give me a break. You're trying to shift blame away from where it belongs: on Polanski

Wonderful way to sum things up. Wonderful.

The only person to blame is the person who committed the crime. That is all. Nothing more.